Blissful Oblivion || a collection ||

Auror

"Greengrass, if you know what's good for you, I suggest you clip that little mouth of yours shut." Draco told her off impatiently as he buttoned his Auror robes, grey eyes scanning the perimeter of the streets they had just entered after taking the visitor's exit by the red phone booth.

Their location on the lead was far from broomsticks and floo networks, and so they had to resort to apparating from outside the Ministry.

"All I'm saying is that I'm happy for you." Astoria went on nonetheless as she tied her brunette locks up into a messy bun. Draco graced her a curious look and was taken aback by her rather kind smile. That smile always did set him off, but in a good sort of way. No one looked at him like that in three years except Astoria. Somehow, she seemed to be the only one that wasn't bothered, and moreover didn't give a bloody damn about the faded Dark Mark on his forearm.

Realizing the look on Draco's face, Astoria's cheeks flushed considerably; looking very flustered as she throttled on, "For me, too, of course! I mean, the exposure to field work is imperative to my training. Not just, you know, you."

Draco smirked at her in amusement before offering his arm. "The less cheeky you are, the better, Greengrass."

"It's Astoria." Astoria huffed rather haughtily as she took his offered arm, readying herself for apparition. "You'd do well to learn my name. It's been a month."

Draco's reply to her haughty proclamation was the sudden apparition he had done that followed. After being sucked into blinding colors and shifting images, they finally landed before a beaten-down household on Mermaid Street in Rye. The surrounding village was quiet in the morning, save for the sound of the distant farmer's market a couple of blocks away. Every house seemed as white as pearl with shapely wooden dressings and red brick rooftops.

The house they stood before was just that, only graying and looking as though it had not been touched or renovated for so long. Its windows were dusty and several of them were either cracked or had peering holes on the sides. The wooden door before them was cracked open and swinging, as though someone had recently just entered the premises.

"Wand out, Greengrass," Draco ordered as he brandished his new Blackthorn wand.

Astoria looked as though she was about to open her mouth to complain about the sudden side-apparition but had decided otherwise when she saw the ajar wooden door. She slipped her Rosewood wand from her pocket and held it aloft.

Draco walked cautiously towards the door before kicking it aside loudly before announcing their arrival. "Auror from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement! Show yourself, Nott!"

There was nothing but the sound of creaking floorboards, although Draco had simply assumed it was due to how old and beaten down the house looked. The furniture in the small living room had been upturned, looking as though a fight had ensued there before. Morning sun bled through the cracked windows, giving the room its only source of light. There was a small staircase that led to the second floor to their right beside the wall that lined empty dust-covered frames.

"Homenum Revelio." Astoria said as she pointed her wand at the dismantled living room.

Nothing happened.

"He's not here. He must have dashed when he heard our apparition pop." Astoria sighed as she stepped into the living room, checking under the overturned coffee table and couch. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"I'm positive," Draco grunted dismissively as he shifted through broken shards of a vase at the foot of the stairs' steps. "Stay down here. I'm going to look around upstairs."